61–70 of 185 posts
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I think only in rare cases should be assistance by dying. In most cases either you can recover or you can commit suicide alone instead.
What do you think should be done if a person fails to commit suicide alone but left a note requesting a mercy death if somehow were to survive with extreme brain damage.
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What do you think should be done if a person fails to commit suicide alone but left a note requesting a mercy death if somehow were to survive with extreme brain damage.
The only people that fail at suicide are those that didn’t truly want to die.
> To feel depressed about the state of your life is to demonstrate capacity to imagine something different, and that spark of imagination can prove a motive to change. This was arguably true for me, but not in a good way. I'm pretty sure that I started having intrusive suicidal thoughts because my depression had motivated me to try to change. Said changes utterly failed to even make a dent in my depression, finally c…
Whenever depression comes up on HN (as it does with surprising frequency), I'm both touched by people's willingness to share their own stories, and frustrated by otherwise very rational and logical people's speed to dismiss data. Initial treatment (meds or evidence-based therapies) work for about 1/3 of people; subsequent treatments work for another 1/3; and there are up to 1/3 where multiple treatment trials fail them. (This comes from STAR*D, plus Cipriani Lancet meta-analysis, plus vast CBT literature). But, there are a number of next-step treatments showing promise (rTMS, esketamine, variants of CBT, and so forth).
> To feel depressed about the state of your life is to demonstrate capacity to imagine something different, and that spark of imagination can prove a motive to change. This was arguably true for me, but not in a good way. I'm pretty sure that I started having intrusive suicidal thoughts because my depression had motivated me to try to change. Said changes utterly failed to even make a dent in my depression, finally c…
Are you still depressed? I try to have 5 good days out of 7 in a week. I found that CBT helps especially the book Feeling Good by David Burns. He has a podcast out now about a new team base cbt approach. The podcast is great and the workbooks in his books are really helpful. He has an associated clinic in Mountain View as well. The approach is practical and specific. CBT has roots in Buddhism and stoicism as well for…
This book changed my life for the better, as well as The Depression Cure by Stephen Ilardi. Both of them combined got me out of a deep multi-yearlong depression and allowed me to get married, get a better job, be more productive, more active and much much happier.
I still have relapses every 6 months or so but I go back to the books and re-read my margin notes and highlights and it always helps.
I didn't know Dr. Burns had a clinic in mountain view. Interesting!
> To feel depressed about the state of your life is to demonstrate capacity to imagine something different, and that spark of imagination can prove a motive to change. This was arguably true for me, but not in a good way. I'm pretty sure that I started having intrusive suicidal thoughts because my depression had motivated me to try to change. Said changes utterly failed to even make a dent in my depression, finally c…
> Said changes utterly failed to even make a dent in my depression, finally convincing me that nothing I did would ever make me feel good again (this was after multiple trials of antidepressants and talk therapy over the course of 10+ years; it's not like this was the first thing I tried). Oof, I didn't have quite as hard of a time as you, but that description resonates a lot. My experience(s) with depression have ta…
Yes, I suspect this is probably a key trigger for suicidal people. You get a well meaning parent/sibling/relative that quickly gets in over their head trying to deal with a seriously depressed/mentally ill person and often they resort to this.
A useful public service message would connect people in this position to contact mental health support services themselves to better understand how to help the individual they care about.
In a better world we have services available for both the mentally ill, and for the people (spouse, parent, etc) that are supporting them.
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>Nearly all medicine have side effects. People should be informed about them (it is included with the medicine, at least here). Most medicine has minimal side effects for most people. "Very common" side effects are ones that effect 10% of people taking the medication. People should be aware that side effects are possible, but they are unlikely. Going in with the attitude that side effects are inevitable makes one mor…
Most people will experience noticeable side effects from antidepressants for at least a week. It doesn't sound like you ever tried one honestly.
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Euthanasia is a distinctly separate topic to suicide (in my mind), but since you brought it up, here is a magnificent oration by Andrew Denton on the topic: https://youtu.be/FMP8eDEik14 It's 50 minutes, and I haven't seen all of it, but it's sad and moving and somehow perfectly combines humanity and logic. (Edited to specify my own bias)
How is suicide not an attempt at self inflicted euthanasia? I'll watch your video (thanks).
There's a specific separation in my mind of the definition of the two, whether that's reflected in the dictionary or not.
The video is fairly specifically about end-of-life kind of suffering, which is along the lines of my definition of euthanasia (rightly or wrongly). Re-reading my comment, and your questioning of it, I do present it more "black and white" than it actually is.
A colleague of mine calls suicide 'a permanent solution to a temporary problem' - not to diminish it, but to recognize that for most people the desire to die is a temporary state. Whenever depression comes up on HN (as it does with surprising frequency), I'm both touched by people's willingness to share their own stories, and frustrated by otherwise very rational and logical people's speed to dismiss data. Initial tr…
I've seen that quote floating around and never much liked it. For those afflicted with long-term treatment resistant depression, it's more like "a guaranteed solution to a permanent problem".
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I think you are going in the right direction. Society needs to recognize that suicide must be some evolutionarily advantageous adaptation. Many people when pressed will say they think an individual has value, but that individual often sees no actions come from that sentiment. And if someone thinks they provide no value and are not wanted, it seems logical to unburden everyone else. It would be similar to how cats go…
Except that suicide burdens everyone around a person terribly.
Does suicide have place in a modern society? Probably not, but at the same time the fact people continue to kill themselves show that people really don't care about the issue. Actions speak louder than words.